


Virtual self imprisonment

by RumiLiena



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Duelling, F/M, Reader-Insert, Romance, Virtual Reality, not so good ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-21 05:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11351043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RumiLiena/pseuds/RumiLiena
Summary: After high-school ended, Seto Kaiba suddenly disappeared in the virtual world and Mokuba took control of Kaiba Corporation. After just 2 years of struggling in the world of CEOs, the teenager needs his big brother’s help. But what if the always stubborn man refuses? And what if a rival company wants to kill the older Kaiba for good? Is Mokuba willing to use every trump card he has under his sleeve in order to protect both his brother and their precious company?





	1. Chapter 1

         Since Kaiba disappeared, Mokuba was no longer the small and fragile boy that clung to his big brother’s pants. Forced, mostly by the harsh environment that he has to work within, but also by his loneliness, the teenager matured quickly. Dressed in a grey suits with his hair short, but still as untamed as ever, he looked at the screen with worried eyes. The numbers were decreasing since the beginning of the month. He has done everything in his power to save the percentage of actions he and his partners have, but everything was futile.  
          Mokuba remembered that Kaiba had gone through something similar at least twice and he managed to solve the crisis like they never existed in the first place. Mokuba opened his eyes. Every time he remembered his brother, the too silent and too big office put an unbearable pressure on his still young shoulders. He rose from his chair and looked outside through the big window. The sunset was his favourite period of the day. From the office on the last floor he had a great panorama of Domino City. The lasts red mixed with orange sunrays were peeking through the skyscrapers that are now dominating the once small city.  
          The only sound that was disturbing the serene atmosphere was the faint beep of the computer, signaling that Kaiba Corp’s actions were either sold or bought. The older Kaiba promised that he’ll return if an emergency situation calls him, yet no matter how much Mokuba pledged his brother, Seto never returned.  
          “This is enough to scare you? Mokuba, how do you want to rule over KaibaCorp if you panic this quickly?”  
          That’s it. His brother nailed everything. Mokuba never wanted to rule over the Corporation. His only wish having anything in common with it was to watch over his older sibling be the CEO and crush all competitors. He never really understood Seto’s reason to isolate himself of the rest of the world and he’ll probably never will. But one thing was for sure. Mokuba needed him back as soon as possible and he was willing to exploit his weaknesses.  
        The black-haired teen took his phone from his desk and scrolled through the long list of contacts until he spotted the familiar, yet so distant name of (l/n)(f/n). The phone rang once, twice… When it reached the seventh time, the line closed. She wasn’t answering her phone.  
Did she change her phone number, did she ignore his call, did she get kidnapped? All those questions seemed less and less plausible, but one thing was for sure: Mokuba has to contact her ASAP.  
        You finally sat down on a bench after 3 hours of shopping with your friend. She just carried you around like a pet and denied you the right to complain. Her only excuse was ‘Let’s relax after a long exam period!’ But now even she was tired and needed a break. You sat on the first bench until she decided where to eat.  
       “Oh! Come on! What’s with the sour face?” you looked at her like she was some kind of an alien being.  
       “I don’t know. You just dragged me here without asking if I’m okay with it? Then you made me walk for 3 hours in every shop? And you didn’t let me look at the game shop!” you threw your hands in air out of despair.  
       “You also found some cute clothes!” That was true. “Especially the ones that I persuaded you to buy.”  
      “More like forced to…” You looked at what you were wearing. It was the girlish dress your friend made you buy and wear. “Still… Isn’t it too girlish…?”  
      “Nope! You should get over your tomboy phase and game shops don’t help you at all. And definitely not KaibaCorp’s shops.”  
      “What’s wrong with them?”  
      “I don’t know? You’re 20? Maybe you should stop playing children’s card games?” you rolled your eyes. Of course your friend wouldn’t understand the beauty of dueling. It wasn’t just a game; it was about the countless number of strategies you can create with the random cards. You took your phone from your purse and saw the blinking light, meaning a missed call/ text. You wanted to see who it was, but your friend took you by hand.  
       “Let’s go and eat!” a sigh escaped your lips and your eyes landed on a tall guy that you saw at least 2 or 3 times while you were shopping. He also sat at a table too close for your comfort.  
       “I think that guy is following us…” you whispered to your friend and she discretely glanced at him. She nodded as a sign of agreeing with you.  
        “A stalker?” you pursed your lips. He wasn’t a stalker. While he did the same amateurish moves, the way he was dressed and behaved gave a different vibe.  
        “After we finish our meal, let’s go to another 2-3 shops to check if he’ll follow us.”  
       Both of you finished and you went to a clothes shop in the other side of the mall, just to be sure that the guy is really following you. When you looked around, there he was, but it was also accompanied by another one. You gulped and an image of Kaiba appeared on your mind. It made you decide to treat them like he’d do it; or at least a cheap imitation.  
        “State your business!” you approached them with a firm look on your face as a decoy to not show your nervousness. Your friend lurked behind your back.  
        “(f-f/n)-chan?”  
        “Are you (l/n) (f/n)?” one of them asked.  
        “And who you might be?”  
         “We’d like you to come with us.”  
        “And if I refuse?” you hid your trembling hands behind you back.  
       “You can’t.”  
        “And why is that?”  
         “We can’t let you meet Seto Kaiba.” Both of them approached you from each side.  
       “(f/n)-chan, you know Seto Kaiba?” you bite your lip. It was a serious business if that name resurfaced after 2 years. You thought you’ll never hear about him again since Mokuba told you he went to the Virtual World forever. Why bring him now? You needed to contact the younger Kaiba fast.  
        “I’ll explain to you eventually. Now do as I say…” she nodded reluctantly. You sighed and closed your eyes. “RUN!” you yelled after throwing all your bags and the purse at the two men. It caught them by surprise and it gave you a few seconds of advantage. You actually hoped that your friend would run in the other direction, so she’ll not get more involved than she already us, but she was too scared to think straight. You went to the KaibaCorp’s shop and right at the cashier.  
       “Do you have a way to contact your CEO?” you asked between pants.  
         “For complains, please use the number for the ‘Customer complains’ department.”  
        “I don’t have any complain! Do you have a way to contact Mokuba?” you already regretted that you threw your purse, too, with your phone in it.  
        “Isono-san is handling the customer part.”  
        “He is perfect! Can you contact him for me?” the cashier was very wary about you, but it was the only way you could contact them.  
         “Only the manager can call an underlying of him.”  
        “(f/n)-chan!” they arrived.  
        “You go and hide behind the counter until they’ll leave. I’m their target!” you turned to the cashier “The manager is right before the deposit starts, right?” she was shocked and nodded.  
       You started to look for the deposit. These shops were the last thing created by Kaiba and you know very well that Mokuba would respect his brother’s designs no matter what. You entered the manager’s office.  
       “You shouldn’t be here!”  
        “Please, call Isono’s underlying and tell him to pass a message to his boss. ‘(f/n) is being followed!’” the manager thought you were crazy, but your name sounded familiar to him so he did as you asked.  
       You exited the mall through the shop’s deposit and headed to the next bus station that will get you to KaibaCorp. Unfortunately, the closest one would leave you 1 km away from the building, yet you couldn’t afford to walk to another station. You hopped in the bus and took a seat.  
       You were both scared and confused. Why would someone try to kidnap you? Why bring Seto Kaiba after quite a long time? Was he still alive? You couldn’t pinpoint the last time you two even had a proper talk. Was at the last Battle City he ever organized…? As you were lost in thoughts you barely noticed the increasing number of glass skyscrapers. You’ve already reached the industrial area and KaibaCorp main building was right at the center.  
       You got off from the bus and a wave of nostalgia swept over you when you saw the familiar scenery. Since it was already develop 2 years ago, it didn’t change too much. You also used to frequent it often since you were the one who brought the papers to Kaiba. But your visits to KaibaCorp weren’t always school-related. Mokuba will often invite you to test the new games with him, before they are released. It always amused you, that even though Kaiba would act like your opinion is trash, he never overlooked your opinions. And lastly, since you always brought your deck with you, the older brother would challenge you to a duel for various reasons. You knew that it was mostly to make him feel good after he lost to Yugi, but you accepted every time nonetheless.    
      It was dark inside the bus and it took you a few seconds to adapt to the dazzling sun. It felt like it mocked you. Not only that you had an exhausting exam and our friend dragged you to an even more tiresome shopping session, but also you have to run from some weirdos that wanted to kidnap you.  
        “(l/n)(f/n)?” you froze when you heard your name from a baritone voice and the heavy hand on your shoulder didn’t help at all. You slapped it off and glared at the man in front of you. Soon your skin becomes paler as you recognize the outfit wore by the two men from the mall. It didn’t take you another second to dash in the opposite direction, unluckily opposite from KaibaCorp as well. Firstly you have to get rid of him, before you can talk with Mokuba. Your dress and shoes made your situation even harder and you cursed your friend with every step.  
        As you moved left and right, for a split second it the thought of being utterly lost passed your mind, but it was tossed aside. With the corner of your eye you noticed how a limousine kind of followed you. It could be Mokuba or it could be a friend of the guy behind you. The car stopped right in the only alley you could take. It was a futile wish to hope that it was your salvation, so you stopped midway; the adrenaline didn’t let you to realize how tired you actually were. When you saw the door open and person with Mokuba’s wild hair waving at you, you jumped in the car without any other thought.  
       “(f/n)? Are you okay?”  
       It was only when you heard your name called by his familiar voice that you relaxed and felt how tired you actually were. At least the message got through.  
       “You have a lot of explication to do!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	2. Chapter 2

        The sound of the closing garage door echoed even in the next room. Mokuba told you that he will explain everything soon, but the tension in the air was palpable. Not only that you haven’t talked since his big brother disappeared, but you also met under such unpleasant circumstances. The sound of you shoes against the tiled floor as well as the blue-ish walls were still too familiar, yet Mokuba leaded you through some hallways that you saw for the first time. Isono departed with the two of you as soon as he parked the car.  
        “Mokuba…?” you whispered more than called him. The hallways have always been soulless and you were afraid that you might wake up some kind of ghost. The smaller boy turned to you and pressed a finger to his smiling lips. You nodded.  
        From what it looked like you were in one of the oldest part of the building. Probably it was last used before Kaiba took control of the company, since you could see the faint words above the doors that lead to different kind of deposits. To say you were a bundle of nerves it was a misunderstanding. Since the attack earlier, your heart rushed and your stomach hurt, but now you could faint at any moment, especially when, in order to open a door, Mokuba had to scan his eye. You’ve entered in a room and the door closed. A rythmitic beep and a faint sound scared you. It sounded like someone was panting.  
        You looked at your surroundings. In your left there was a screen as big as the wall with a keyboard under it. The screen was black, yet on of the leds on the keyboard was lit, signaling that the computer is on stand-by. There were actually two rooms, but the door was missing from the wall between them. Mokuba noticed your reluctance and put his hand on your forearm.  
        “(f/n)? Are you okay?” it was the second time he asked you that. You sighed while smiling.  
        “What do you prefer? A lie or the truth?”  
        “Of course you are not okay… You’ve been followed the all day and I kept you in the dark until now. I’m sorry I couldn’t reach you until it was too late.” You shook your head. It was already too late for regrets.  
         “What happened?”  
         “It’s easier if I show you first. I warn you. It can be hard to take all in.”  
         “I just want to know.” Mokuba nodded and signed with his head towards the other room.  
         You sighed in order to ease your nerves and moved to the other room. As you got closer, you could clearly see it. It was as small as a closet room and there were only 2 beds. One of them was surrounded by all kind of devices. It looked like the beeping sound came from them. You were standing in the doorframe with wide eyes.  
       “Kaiba…?”  
        Mokuba was sure that she will recognize him. Mokuba knew something about the girl and his brother that, perhaps, both knew, but none of them would ever admit.  
        “Yes. Let me explain everything. After the duel between Yugi and Atem, my brother couldn’t move on. He gave up on his dreams and made it his sole goal to create a world where his eternal rival still lives. Seto choose the VR, because he has access to all the information from every game the Pharaoh ever played. He spent the last 2 years there, while his body remained alive using all the devices found in an ICU.” Mokuba stopped in case you had questions. Instead of asking, you moved next to the bed where Kaiba was sleeping. His body was covered by just a thin blanket and all kind of tubes where inserted into his body. His hair grown and the helmet that was linking him to the VR covered most of his face.  
        “Mokuba, your brother is…” the young Kaiba was curious to see your reaction “A pathetic idiot and a sore loser!” his jaw dropped. He didn’t expect you to say that.  
           “He is such an obsessive bastard that does everything half-assed! Look at him! He leaves life to do what? Do duel Atem! How many times does this guy want to duel the same person? Is he still losing? Why even keep his body alive? It’s not like he’ll ever return.” You were yelling.  
         “Because he will die otherwise…”  
        “Just let him die! At least he will meet his ‘rival’ in the afterlife and duel there without disturbing anyone!” Mokuba couldn’t imagine that you could be so upset with this. You were even angrier than him.  
          “And why all the ruckus, now?” this time you looked like you calmed down.  
          “The biggest rival of KaibaCorp found out about this. They’ve been buying actions and now they own 49% of them. When Seto left, we exchanged the number of shares. I own 49% and he owns 2%. They plan to get their hands on his 2% and are willing to do everything.”  
        “And why am I included in this story?”  
         “(f/n), I want you to go and persuade my brother to come back.” You blinked a few times and expected Mokuba to joke. But he was dead serious.  
        “Wait! Why me and not you?”  
        “I’ve already tried and he keeps refusing me!”  
        “And why do you think I’ll succeed? Mokuba, you are the only one Kaiba cares about and you couldn’t do it!”  
        “Please, (f/n). You are my only chance.” You covered your face with your hand and sighed.  
        “Ok. I’ll try, but I won’t promise anything… If the rival company was stalking me, doesn’t it mean that you have a spy inside?”  
        “I was afraid of that, also. Chances are that they know about this and will try to find his body.”  
        “Or they can be in the Virtual World.”  
        “They can’t!” Mokuba’s quick response took you by surprise.  
        “Why are you so sure?” Mokuba looked like he didn’t want to tell you. In a way you understood him. There was a slim chance that the enemies know about this place. Even though they can’t enter, it doesn’t mean that they can’t hear everything through the door. At the same time he has to understand your situation as well. You’ve been brought out of nowhere into this mess and you have to gather as many information as possible quickly.  
        “The system to create an account is almost impossible to crack. You’ll enter using my account.”  
        “Okay… So I have to go in and persuade Kaiba into coming back home. No matter what.”  
        “That would be the most basic idea.”  
        “And would I end up as him as well?” you pointed to the beeping devices that were linked to Kaiba’s body. Only the thought of so many needles being pierced into your body disgusted you and you didn’t try to hide it.  
        “They will in case it takes you more than a few hours to come back. Also everything would be done after you lose consciousness. That way you wouldn’t feel any pain.”  
        “So, when I’m in the VR world, I can’t feel the pain of my body? And my body doesn’t feel the pain I could feel there, right?” Mokuba nodded.  
        “But if you die in either the VR or in the real world, you’ll die for real.” A shiver went down your spine. But what can happen in a world where only Kaiba and you are living? A lot can happen, but certainly nothing that involves death.  
        “Ok. I think I’ve got the grasp of the basic stuff.”  
        You sat on the bed next to Kaiba, being careful not to touch him. The former CEO looked so fragile right now, that you wondered if even the slightest disturbance will broke him. Mokuba handed you a glass of water and you took it very wary.  
        “It will help you get in the VR quickly. You can’t go there until you fell asleep. I doubt that you have nerve of steel and can sleep like a log after what just happened.” You shrugged and drank the water.  
        “Who knows…”  
         You put the helmet on your head and lay down on the bed. You closed your eyes. At first the sounds that were coming from the bed next to you were very unsettling, but soon, after Mokuba started to type something, it lulled you to sleep. Not even seconds after that you found yourself in pitch dark. You extended your arm, but you barely could saw your forearm.  
        “Great. I should have asked for more details.” You remarked sarcastically. Yet you were too afraid to move in the dark, especially if your life was on line. As if someone was listening to you, a big screen appeared in front of you. It was so bright that you had to cover your dark-adjusted eyes. You managed to read what was on the screen after a few seconds.  
          ‘Mokuba Kaiba  
             Login in…’  
        And a box was filling itself according to the percent shown.  
        After it filled completely and a ‘Login successfully’ message appeared, the dark environment changed. Shapes of building, humans, trees and animals appeared. You felt like you watched a painting completing itself, from just a lazily sketch to a piece taken from reality, only this time you were part of the painting. In less than a minute Domino City, actually a brilliant copy, was created. You were in the park, most likely the place where Mokuba last logged off. The first thing you noticed was the impressing number of NPCs. You expected an empty world where just Kaiba lived, but the amount of details and ‘humans’ left you speechless and with a bitter taste in your mouth.  
        “This is so stupid that it can’t be described…”  
         You also found out that you had a card around your neck. When you flipped it over you saw Mokuba’s picture along with his name and two strings made from randomly generated numbers. You half-guessed that this was the unbreakable login system and the card was the ID from this world.  
         You had quite a lot to walk until KaibaCorp which let you guessed that the two siblings had a fight last time, most likely regarding the situation that brought you here. You wondered if Kaiba has also implemented the busses that will help you a lot in your journey to the big building. Surprisingly, or at this point not quite so much, he did and they respected the timetable from two years ago. Over time it changed due to the expansion of the city. Hoping that your monthly pass works in VR, too, you got on the bus. After that you remembered that everyone in this world saw you as ‘Mokuba’, so he’ll be the one punished for illegal bus traveling.  
The ride was uneventful due to the nature of NPCs. You spent all the time looking on the window. Even though you were impressed by the resemblance between your home city and the virtual world, you were feeling uneasy. Mokuba made it sounds like a piece of cake. Everything can be solved if you manage to persuade the former CEO. The task in itself proves to be almost impossible, but that can’t be all; the rival party can’t just give up this quickly. Or so you thought. That is what you’d do if you were the leader of such company.  
         Your thoughts drifted to what you’ll do if you were the boss of an evil organization so much that you arrived in front of KaibaCorp and realized that you didn’t have any attack plan. You don’t have any idea how to persuade the King of Stubbornness and the fact that his younger brother couldn’t do it left you with no confidence at all. To improvise is the only option you have. Wishing that you wouldn’t let your own bitterness about what Kaiba did out, you entered the building. Smiling triumphantly that the guards didn’t stop you, you haven’t expected that the elevator to not work without a badge. Scanning the ID card you had around your neck made the doors opened immediately.  
        You arrived on the top floor in a minute and exited the elevator. In front of his office’s door, his secretary had her desk.  
        “Good evening, Mokuba-sama. Is Kaiba-sama expecting you?” she caught you off guard.  
        “Uhm, no, um. I-I’m going to surprise him!” you were always bad with these women. Since your first year of high school, Kaiba changed 2 secretaries. No matter how long you’ve known them, you always felt nervous and stutter around them. You understood how many people feel when they order fast food. The secretaries always asked ‘Is Kaiba-sama expecting you?’ You were there. Doesn’t mean that he called for you? If you were there to murder him, you’ll never use the front door.  
        “I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you. I wish you a good day!”  
        “S-Same.” Here you go, exchanging pleasantries with a computer. If someone told you that you’ll be going to do that, you’d have sent him to mental hospital.  
        On a second note, you were quite surprise by the bluntness of the statement. All these NPCs were programmed by Kaiba himself, so the secretary’s words were his words. So he can be nice, too. You hummed to yourself willing to bet good money that Mokuba never said what you did right now. After that the chances that Kaiba isn’t aware of the people login in were very slim. Yet you had the upper hand this time. You opened the door and Kaiba’s back greeted you. He slowly turned to face you.  
        “Mokuba, what a-“  
        “Long time no see, Kaiba.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	3. Chapter 3

                Mokuba closed his laptop and looked at the two sleeping people. While his brother was linked to the machine, (f/n) was looking like she was sleeping very deeply. Truth to be told both of them were unconscious. Mokuba has to go back to his office and call for the doctor. Before closing the door he looked once again at the girl. (f/n) was his last chance. If she couldn’t persuade his brother, no one could.

              “Long time no see, Kaiba” you said with a smirk.

              “What are you doing here and where is Mokuba?” he slammed his hands on his desk.

              “He was kidnapped, so I’ve came to the VR to bother you….” You sweat dropped. The funny part was that this scenario wasn’t so unlikely.

              “This isn’t a laughing matter, (f/n). Where is Mokuba?” Kaiba narrowed his blue eyes. You sighed closing your eyes.

              “He is in KaibaCorp’s main building; most likely in the office.” You hesitated between ‘his’ or ‘your’ so you chose none.

              “And you?”

              “He sent me here to bring you back.”

              “I refuse!” Kaiba turned his back to you.

              “You didn’t even let me explain myself…”

              “I don’t feel any need. I know every detail.” His arrogance ticked you off.

              “I highly doubt that. You’re hiding yourself like a coward. You have no idea what people have to endure in the real world!” you bite your inner cheek. You said that you won’t let your own bitterness out, but this is what you’re doing.

              “I can’t really say that your drama picks my interest.” Kaiba’s back was still facing you, so you couldn’t know his facial expression. You took the guess that he has his usual poker face.

              “I’m not talking about myself, you idiot. I’m talking about Mokuba.”

              “Oh? Do you think you know more about my brother than me?” he finally turned to you with an angry face. You darkly chuckled.

              “Do you actually mean that? After 2 years of living in VR, you still think you know everything? Well, bad news. You don’t.”

              “You’re spouting non-sense as always.”

              “A-Always?” you narrowed your eyes “Are you kidding me? All of our lives are in danger and you criticize my personality?” you just wanted to strangle the man in front of you. He sighed.

              “Tell me. After that, leave and never return.”

              “Mokuba lost 49% of shares. The 2% you own are essential for the rival company. He fears that they might discover your living body and will kill you. He might sell 2% from his shares just to protect you. I wouldn’t count that possibility out. Anyway, both cases he will be extremely devastated and I don’t know what he will do after that.”

              “Why would he do something? I left the company to him. If it’ll succeed or not it’s all up to him.”

              “You really don’t understand! In his eyes he failed you and destroyed your dream! You really think that he’ll continue his life as if nothing happened? Poor him. He still thinks that you haven’t changed your dream.” You might have exaggerated a bit, but your ad-libbing wasn’t that far from the truth.

              “Ok. Supposing I return, what then?”

              “Well, I don’t know. Your brother thinks that everything would be solved if you just return.”

              “See?! Neither of you had a plan on how to solve the problem. You just run to me to ‘solve’ it. You never really tried anything.” You slammed your fist in his desk.

              “It’s already a fact that you are a heartless jerk, but I never thought that you wouldn’t trust Mokuba. Do you think he just ran to you after having only a small problem? I saw him solving big ones on himself. I bet you didn’t know about some forgery, right? Unpleased customers? Low sales? Something sounds familiar?” Kaiba was silent for several seconds; clearly he didn’t know about these events.

              “Well, apparently he had you to support him.”

              “Wrong again. I just found out about them from the internet and news. He solved them on his own. Believe me, this is far more serious than you think!” you looked directly in his blue eyes.

              “Ok. Let me think about it. Now leave me alone.” Kaiba was quite hasty in shooing you away.

              “I can’t. I’ve promised your brother that I will not return without you.” Actually, Mokuba, perhaps intentionally, haven’t told you how to log out of the game. Kaiba sighed again.

              “I’ll devise a plan and send it to you. Is that a good enough compromise?” it was your time to sigh. This guy’s stubbornness exceeded any known level.

              “It looks like there is only one way to decide this: a duel. If I win, you’ll come with me. If you win I’ll accept your compromise.” Kaiba laughed.

              “You’re hopeless, you know? Should I remind you about our duel records? Why don’t you accept my terms already and we don’t waste time?”

              “I’m pretty confident in winning against someone whose only enemy was a shadow of the past.” Kaiba narrowed his eyes at you.

              “Fine. Let’s do it.”

              “First, you’ll devise the plan. I know you’ll try to get rid of me if I lose.” Kaiba clicked his tongue and sat at his desk.

              You just sat on the sofa. You never really understood why he has one, but you have always used it while you were in his office, doing nothing. You actually lay down on it and began to think. You never really wanted this to end in a duel; after all your chances of losing were rather high, but it couldn’t be helped. While you might have not promised to Mokuba that you’ll not return without his older brother, you did say that you’ll try your best. You lost yourself in thoughts for almost an hour, while listening to Kaiba’s keyboard typing and mouse clicking.

              “I want to ask you something.” he just hummed for you to continue “Is this the dream world that you wished for? Does it really feel like you are the almighty god of this world?” he stopped his work and you took it as a sign that he really took your questions into consideration.

              Truth to be told, Kaiba knew you were right. For the past two years he was dueling a shadow. It wasn’t like he always won or always lost to this ‘Atem’. It was the fact that he never felt the same rush of adrenaline or excitement he felt every time he dueled the Pharaoh in the real, no matter how many data he gathered or how he changed the strategy. It was always the same. Somewhere deep down, a small voice told him it was about time to give up. From the very moment you stepped in his office, Seto knew why his little brother sent you here. Not only that you were never afraid to tell him the naked truth, but you also knew him in completely different level. From these points of view, you could exploit his weaknesses in a way the little Mokuba couldn’t.

              “If this is or not the world of my dreams it should not be any of your concerns... Yet, it definitely doesn’t feel like I’m the god of this world. If I were, you wouldn’t be here anymore.”

              “Seems fair.” Kaiba didn’t know for which answer this was meant for.

              You stood up from your sit and went to fill a glass of water. You were quite amazed by the fact that you can still get thirsty and hungry in this world. You took a paper glass and filled it with cold water. Before you brought it to your lips, a flash with Kaiba’s living body appeared on your mind. Most likely you were going to look exactly like him. As you were about to drink it, when a sudden earthquake hits and the power is cut off.

              “Kaiba, is nice and well that you wanted this world to be as faithful as the real one, but do you really have to include earthquakes as well?”

              “I haven’t. Someone must have hacked the world.”

              “What? But Mokuba said it’s impossible to be hacked!”

              “It should be. He had been careless…”

              “Eh?”

              “Let’s go downstairs.” He started running and you followed him. His office was at the 15th floor, so you had to run on the stairs. When you reached the first one, you were almost out of breath. You took him by his white coat in order to stop him until you stopped panting.

              “We have company.” Kaiba’s statement made you look through the glass doors.

              “The guy who chased me!”

              “What?”

              “I thought you weren’t interested in my drama.” You were too tempted to resist. “These guys found out that Mokuba was trying to contact me, so they attempted to kidnap me, so I’ll not meet you. They chased me today, until your brother saved me.”

              “Just this time I admit you were right. It’s more serious than I thought.” You sighed.

              “And what are we going to do?”

              “You stay here. I’m going to have a talk with him.”

              “Wa… Kaiba!” before you could say anything he dashed out and attacked the guy. They were outside, so you just stopped at the end of the stairs. Kaiba actually hit him a few times in the face and stomach and you felt avenged. That was when you saw another guy. Dressed like the one beaten by the former CEO, he had a knife in his hand.

              “An ambush with a decoy…” you bite your lower lip.

              ‘If he dies in the virtual world, then he’ll die in the real one, too.’

              “If he dies then everything I did was pointless…!”

              You ran right in front of Kaiba’s back. The guy with a knife was clearly surprised, but he already launched himself and couldn’t stop himself. His knife stabbed your right shoulder. He was supposed to stab Kaiba’s heart, but due to the height difference, it ended in your shoulder. A few drops of blood ended up on the tall duelist’s coat and you cried in pain. You didn’t expect it to hurt that much. The other two stopped their fight and Kaiba turned to you holding. You were already kneeling in front of him, holding in your shoulder.

                “Idiot! We were supposed to keep her alive! Let’s retreat for now!” the beaten man yelled at the other.

              “(f/n)!”

              “It hurts…!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	4. Chapter 4

              The doctor just finished connecting (f/n) to the machines and was now talking with Mokuba, when they heard a faint moan. The girl suddenly jolted and the young Kaiba panicked.

              “What is going on?”

              “It is not something to worry about.” The doctor had a soothing and calm tone, to reassure his peer. “The brain doesn’t notice any difference between a dream and the VR and that’s why the body might spontaneously move. It is the same as when we a have a vivid dream and jolt or talk.”

              “But my big brother didn’t react like that at all.”

              “It is perhaps due to the fact that he was all alone in the world and didn’t have a powerful enough stimulus.”

              “Now I’m starting to be worried about a different reason… What if something bad happened?” Mokuba’s eyes were looking at (f/n)’s hand. Her pinky slightly stretched and touched Kaiba’s.

              “I’m sure that, neither Mr. Kaiba nor Ms. (l/n), would do something that will put their lives in danger. You have to believe in them.”

              Mokuba nodded and they left without noticing how Seto’s hand moved on top of hers.

              Back in the virtual world you lost consciousness soon after the events. After an unknown period of time you started to be aware of your surroundings once again. Refusing to open your eyes, you tried to find out where you are with the other senses and, more importantly, to put your finger on the striking familiarity you felt. Failing miserably, you finally opened your (e/c) orbs and discovered the reason of the nostalgic feeling that kept bugging you. You were in your room on your own bed.

              ‘So everything up ‘till now was just a dream…?’ that was your first thought as you rolled on your right side.

              “Ah!” the pain fully woke you up as you stood up using your left hand to support some of your weight. Nothing was a dream. You heard a sound.

              Your cry of pain caught Kaiba’s attention. After you were stabbed and the guys ran away, you were in pain and he couldn’t get to you no matter how many times he called your name. Then you fainted. He couldn’t just let you bleeding, so he ran to the nearest pharmacy and bought everything he needed. It was the first time that he was glad that he implemented this world to be as close to the real one was possible. But the older Kaiba needed a place to let you rest for a while and his company was out of the question. The next quite safe and close place was your house.

              “You finally woke up.”

              “How long I was out?” you were rather dizzy.

              “A few hours.” His answers were rather short and you sighed.

              “Can I have a glass of water, please?” you bitterly remembered that you wanted to drink one before you were hurt. Without a nasty comment, Kaiba went to the kitchen and brought you a glass of cold water. It helped you ease the dizziness. Even though you finished it, you didn’t hand him the glass. Your fingers gripped it tighter as you felt his judging gaze. 

              “Does it hurt the same?” it was a surprising question.

              “No, it is a bit better.”

              “I patched it as quickly as I could. Fortunately, that man wasn’t trained to kill people and the wound isn’t as deep as it could be. Even if he had the chance to stab me and I was alone, I would have rather died of blood loss.”

              “I think that’s too much information…” he was still looking at you with a harsh gaze “Thank you, Kaiba.” You looked at your right shoulder a little embarrassed, knowing well what bandaging you meant. Yet he did a neatly job.

              “Now, tell me what was in your mind that made you act so recklessly? If there was something, of course.”

              “At that moment I thought of nothing. I just acted impulsively. Most likely, in the back of my mind, there was this idea that if you die everything is screwed: me, Mokuba, KaibaCorp… But to say that this was the sole reason, it’d be a lie.” Kaiba sighed.

              “I expected this much from someone as you…”

              “To save your life?”

              “No. To be this reckless.” You closed your eyes, annoyed. His words were hurting you more than your wounded shoulder. Yet he was right. You didn’t say anything in return, so after a few minutes of silence Kaiba returned to your desk where he was working on your computer since he brought you here.

              You were left standing there, on your bed, so you just started to look around. It was a perfectly replica of your room. You didn’t know the exact number of times that Kaiba came to your room, but you knew it was too small to remember all of these details. You looked at his back, the familiar sound of keyboards echoing in the room.

              “Kaiba?” he stopped. It was a sign that he was listening to you. “Why…?” there were more than one ‘why’ that you wanted to ask. At the same time, you knew that he wasn’t the kind of person that wanted to be bombarded with questions or to chitchat, so you always have to be careful what you talk about. Sensing your hesitation, Kaiba moved and sat at the foot of your bed.

              “What do you want?” his words were harsh, but his tone was calm.

              “Why have you left the real world…?” it wasn’t the ideal ‘why’ question you wanted to put, but it was too late to change it.

              “I wanted an answer.” You hadn’t expected honesty. You looked into his blue eyes and they were deadly serious.

              “Have you found it?”

              “No and I know that I can’t find it in this life, yet I don’t want to regret not trying until I’ve had enough.”

              “Your perseverance is quite amazing. But don’t you have any regrets?”

              “I might have one or two.” You sighed. Again, you let a bit of your bitterness out. He looked at you waiting for the next questions, face expressionless.

              “Why haven’t you told anyone about your plan? You just selfishly left without solving your problems like they were someone else’s… You didn’t even say goodbye to your brother.” A small pause.

              This time you’ve used Mokuba as an excuse, but truth to be told, you were talking about yourself. You couldn’t exactly call yourself Kaiba’s friend, but you always thought that the two of you are close. You even had a crush on him which, of course, you negated it knowing that it is one-sided, yet that doesn’t mean that you didn’t had a slightly hope he would prove you wrong.  That’s why it saddened you that he left without leaving, at least a small sign.

              “Because I knew that he will try to stop me.” Another pause “And I’m not sure I would have still been able to leave after having a debate.”

              After each pause, blue eyes glared at you in a way that reminded you of any duelist found in a pinch and brainstorming for a strategy that will turn the tables in, at most, a few turns. Maybe he was hiding something behind what he said, as well. At the same time it could just be your wishful overthinking. You just hummed.

              “What were you doing up until now?”

              “I need to get my company back.”

              “So you found a way to do it…”

              “I always had a way, but I didn’t want to use it. I was changing the code right. If everything goes according to the plan, KaibaCorp along with the virtual Domino City would be destroyed.”

              “Does that mean that you will come back to the real world?”

              “I will.” Any normal person would celebrate victory by now, but you were no normal person. You knew the former CEO.

              “And are you going to stay?”

              “If you are able to win our duel.”He said with a smirk.  You narrowed your (e/c) at him. But even if you don’t win it, you still fulfilled your promise to Mokuba.

              “And how you’ll proceed?”

              “For this I’m going to need your help.”

              “Meaning?”

              “Only when you enter in KaibaCorp is your login id checked; this means that is a chance that they don’t know about you wearing Mokuba’s id. “

              “And they might think that Mokuba also joined us and create a decoy?”

“Exactly. You are going to install this program in the computer homologous to the one in the room that you have used to enter in the Virtual World. Are you going to take this high stake risk?”

“Of course. Is not like you can do it, anyways.”

“I could. But it will take a lot to break in the computer’s security.” You just chuckled.

              After that, there was silence, yet Kaiba didn’t return to your computer to finish the program. He just stood on the bed staring at you. You closed the distance and he did something unexpected. He gently touched the place under your chin. You were shocked for one second and you felt extremely embarrassed soon after. You wrapped your fingers around his wrist in a tight grip as a sign for him to stop. He did, but, after being expressionless for a long time, his blue eyes showed disappointment. It made you feel guilty. But you also regretted doing that. You liked the kind gesture and hated yourself for letting your embarrassment win. In an impulsive act, to easy your guilt as a goal and make you feel better, you wrapped your arms around him and gave him a hug that lasted just a few seconds. Giving him a hug was a dream that you wanted to come true for a long time. Kaiba looked at you like you were a stranger trying to sell him some forgery. At least he wasn’t disappointed anymore. You just shrugged and opened a closet to look for clothes and, indeed, you found some outfits that he must have remembered you wearing them.

              “I’m going to change.”

              “Why?”

              “I need something more practical.”

              You didn’t care if you’ve answered wrong. You were not going to continue whatever had started. You closed the door behind you and bit your lip. After that you went to the bathroom to change. Kaiba, left alone in your room, stared at the hand that touched you almost a minute and went to the computer to finish his part of the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I’m writing a duel. The deck I use for the reader is invented by me. The creatures are based on characters from other anime. The deck is OP (plot convenience), but the reader has to sacrifice her own life points in order to get those OP monster effects. The duel also has special rules. These, along with what the monster effects are, will be explained YGO-style during the duel. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> I’m also adding another disclaimer: I do not own the characters that the creatures are based on.

              When you finished changing, Kaiba was already closing your computer. He withdrew a memory stick from it and gently put it in your hand. Knowing about its importance, you put it in a safe place where you can have easily access to it, but not lose it instantly. He then opened his suitcase and took a small wireless headphone. You put it in your ear and moved in another room to check if it’s working. The test was successful, so you returned.

              “How am I going to get in? I can’t just waltz in through the main door.” Kaiba looked at you, face void of any emotion. Yours was calm, but sparks of curiosity could be spotted.

              “There is an entrance that only I know about. If you use it and go straight ahead, you’ll end up in the hallway that Mokuba led you through. You have to go to the room equivalent to the one my body is resting.”

              “I understand.” You nodded to emphasize that.

              Kaiba closed his suitcase and the two of you left your house. You are fully aware of the fact that it wasn’t really your house that you just left; it was just a virtual copy. Nevertheless, you still felt that empty feeling in your stomach about not locking the front door. You followed Kaiba’s quicker walking pace, as he was the one knowing about the secret entrance. After only a few minutes, he adjusted to your speed, thus you caught up with him. The walk was silent. You were trying to remember the mental map of the hallway Mokuba led you through, thinking about a door or a smaller hallway that could lead outside.

              “Say.” You only half turned your head to look at him. He also watched you with the corner of his eye, the usual poker face present. “This entrance exists in the real world as well?”

              “No. I made it in case of emergencies. It proved to be useful.”

              “You can never be careful enough, right?”

                Kaiba didn’t answer. You took his silence as an approval and the two of you spent the rest of the walk in silence.  While wandering where he set that secret entrance, you noticed how you were heading to the rather notorious part of the Domino City. He suddenly stopped and opened the door of an apartment; it was leading to a gallery. You blinked a few times and looked at him, dumbstruck.

              “Do you mean that I have to walk half a town?”

              “This or you could use the front door and get caught immediately.” You rolled your eyes. He was not helping you at all.

              “By the way, you said that I’ll be checked when I enter KaibaCorp. What do you mean by that?”

              “When you enter KaibaCorp, you’ll appear as online. They’ll know that you are still alive and moving. If they also know about this rule, they’ll start searching for you inside the building. Using this gallery, you’ll end up as close to the room as possible, giving you more time. But you still have to hurry, (f/n).” you looked down for a second, and then you raised your face with serious eyes.

              “I know. I’m going!”

                “I’ll be waiting for you here.” and with that you left into the gallery.

                The acoustic of the gallery was quite impressive as, even after long minutes, your hurried steps could still be heard. Kaiba opened his suitcase and took his laptop from it. Checking the status of the already too low battery, he opened a blue map with white lines, a black spot moving along the brightest of them and, at the end of the same line, was a square with the letters ‘KC’ written on it. It was the map of Domino City, the white lines were the roads, and the brightest was the gallery. You were the black spot moving towards the end destination, his company. The small headphone he gave you sent a GPS signal that his laptop caught.

                “Your steps are too loud. When you approach the building, you have to slow down.” A noise was heard before your voice.

                “And how am I supposed to know that?” a tad of annoyance emerged from the voice accompanied by heavy breaths, the result of an unorganized running.

                “I’ll let you know.” Only the noise was heard this time, signaling that you turned your microphone off.

                If this gallery had other doors, you would have lost your way a long time ago since it was completely dark. You couldn’t even see your own hand in front of your eyes. As in the case with the unlocked door, you kept repeating in your head that what you are living is virtual. There is no way that rats and other odious creatures will attack you. The only thing you could fear is that the enemy had found this secret entrance. For the second time, that noise startled you.

                “Slow down.”

                It was an order that you followed immediately. You stopped running, but you still walked as fast as you could, without making any noise louder that necessary. After what seemed like an eternity, you completely stopped, panting. You were no longer in the gallery. It was a very tall room with small windows placed at the top. Those, along with cracks in the wall, poorly lit it, but it was a nice transition from the darkness you’ve been up ‘till now. You heard the noise again, but this time it didn’t scare you, as you were already expecting another order from Kaiba.

                “Do you see the door in front of you? Use it. From this moment, they are aware of your presence.” You sensed the urgency in his voice.

                Right in front of you was a big, heavy and rusty door. You used both your hands and as much strength as you could muster to open it. It proved to be much easier to open it than you actually thought, but the door still made a loud cracking sound. Recognizing the place you were, as in the area with many deposits, you started to run in the right direction.

                At some point, you could swear that you heard some human voices, so you hid behind a wall. This time, the sound scared you again as you were concentrating elsewhere. Eye twitching, you pondered whether you should step on the headphone or not.

                “Why did you stop? You are wasting precious time.” This time you decided to answer.

                “Are you kidding me? I’ve heard people. If they find me, then everything is for naught.”

                “Fine.” He wasn’t convinced.

                “And stop closing your microphone or I’ll end up having a heart attack before I could install anything.”

                “Stop being so jumpy. There is nothing that can happen to you.” You started to run towards the door again as everything was clear; you could already see it.

                You’ve reached the door and stopped again. You remembered clearly how Mokuba opened the door in the real world, but you couldn’t do that. Scanning the surrounding area with your eyes, you noticed a small slit, just about the size of you login card. You put it in the slit without taking it off and a green LED lit. The door opened and you entered the room.

                “Now what?” you already opened the main computer and inserted the memory stick.

                “Open the folders in the order that I’m dictating.” And he started to say names that sounded completely random. You would double click on it fast after you saw it, sensing the pressure. Still, you glanced for a split second in the next room; it was empty. Of course it would be, since Kaiba was half a town away from you and speaking.

                “Now you should see a no name exe file. Install it. After that you have to hurry back here, so we could log off.” You nodded, not realizing that he couldn’t see it. You searched for the file and it took you a few more seconds than usual to see it.

                Kaiba sighed. After she installs it, the girl has only 30 minutes to return to him. He closed his laptop as it not only already served its purpose, but also died. He was about to ask her what takes so long to find an exe file when she yelled.

                “Aha! I found it.” And then there was a loud bang that turned him deaf for a few seconds.

                “(f/n)? What happened?” no answer “Answer me, (f/n)!” he ordered, but the other end was silent, her headphone most likely turned off. He was alert. Things were going a little bit too smoothly; he should have been more careful. Then he heard the noise indicating that she turned it on.

                “(f/n)?”

                “Kaiba Seto, I assume.” It was a male voice. A sly male voice.

                “Indeed, I am.”

                “That’s so nice of you to send us your girlfriend. It saved us the trouble of capturing her, alive.”

                “What do you want from her? She’s just an outsider!” Kaiba didn’t like the situation at all. He was starting to lose his calm and he hated that.

                “Oh no! She stopped being an outsider the very moment your brother decided to bring her in the game. She’s the key in bringing you here, after all. Now, why don’t you come here? I’ll give you one hour. If you are not here, then her mild head injury will turn into something much bigger.”

                “You-!” an awful sound followed and it made Kaiba threw his own headphone. It could only meant that (f/n)’s was destroyed. He packed his suitcase and left in hurry. He has to save the innocent girl. He already owns her too much.

              You opened your eyes, just to be blinded by too much brightness. You blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the sudden change and to easy the throbbing pain of a headache. You were lying on a white floor. Screw that, everything around you was white: floor, walls and ceiling. You changed your position from lying to siting, immediately regretting as the room started to swirl from dizziness. You used your left arm to steady yourself and the right one to pinch the bridge of your nose, sore pain stabbing your shoulder in the meantime. Your fingers moved to your forehead and brushed against textile. A shoot of panic was injected through your body. They traced the fabric until they touched the maximum point of your pain, at the back of your head. You hissed.

              “For real…” the sound of the door opening made you move suddenly, adding to the dizziness.

              “You’ve already woke up, huh?” a sly male voice.

              “Who are you and what do you want?” venom dripped from your words.

              “So mean…And here I wanted to give you some painkiller…” despise his words he still handed you a glass of water and a red, gel-like pill. You recognize it as the most common, yet fast, painkiller. Still, you couldn’t be sure.

              “I can’t trust you…” you shoot him a glare. Now that you looked at him, he was wearing a long black coat with a hood over his head. You couldn’t see his face.

              “You can’t. But I’ll tell you a secret. As long as you are alive and kicking, Kaiba is at our mercy.” Your (e/c) eyes widened for a second.

              “That can’t be.” You hissed the words.

                “Yes, it can. I mean look at that.”

                He pointed to a big screen behind him, just above the door. There were actually two of them, but only one was lit and it showed Kaiba, from his torso up. You guessed that he was scanning his surroundings from the movement of his eyes and talking with someone as his lips moved from time to time. Trying to read his lips made your head throb even worse, but you didn’t miss that he said your name. Was it wrong that you mentally heard his voice as well?

                What worried you wasn’t that he was in a similar room as you were, judging from the white wall behind him, but there was a guy in a background, dressed completely in black. He was probably one of the men that chased you that day. Or the day before, you lost track of time long ago. That guy had a gun pointed right at Kaiba’s head. Sensing your worries, the guy in black coat started to laugh.

                “Don’t worry. You have one as well.” Only then you realized that you weren’t alone in the room with the creepy guy. Copy-pasted from the one behind Kaiba, there was a man pointing a gun at the back of your head.

                “Why?”

                “Just as an assurance that neither of you will do something nasty. After all, you wouldn’t risk his life after you just saved it. And I’m sure that he doesn’t want your slightly bloody bump to transform into a bullet hole.”

                “Scum.” You narrowed your eyes.

                “So scary… But you are actually fragile, girl. Who would’ve thought that you’ll bleed after I hit you with the corner of a thick dictionary?”

                “No, I’m impressed that I’ve managed to survive such a lethal weapon…”

                “Now take the pill. I need you at your best for what is coming next.” You reluctantly did take it.

                In the room next to yours, Kaiba was talking with a man wearing the same black coat with a hood, face hidden as well.

                “You have me where you want. Where is (f/n)?” after he finished scanning the completely white and artificially lit room, he asked. He also took note of the missing windows, yet it had good ventilation, since it was a little chilly inside.

                “Oh, I almost forgot.” He also pointed behind him. Same two big screens above the door. One of them lit, showing you sitting on the floor and talking. He also saw the red pill in your hand and the bandages wrapped around your head. But it slightly worried him how unfocused your eyes looked.

                “What are you giving her?”

                “Nothing much. Just some painkiller. My brother threated her a bit roughly.” Kaiba snorted.

                “What do you want? Stop wasting my time.”

                “Mr. Kaiba, I wouldn’t be as impatient as you right now. After all, the next stage starts now.” And the guy tossed him a duel disk which Kaiba caught easily.

                “You can’t be serious and challenge me to a duel.” Kaiba was blunt as always.

                “It is not any kind of duel. It is an interesting one.” He said, his voice betraying the smirk on his face, while Kaiba checked the deck inside the duel disk. It was his latest deck.

                “I don’t like your twisted sense of interesting.” You said mockingly. Like Kaiba, you’ve received a duel disk with a complete replica of your deck.

                “I’ll let you decide that. Now the rules: we each start with 8000 LP.” You snorted.

                “You made a replica of my deck and you don’t know that giving me so many LP will be your demise?”

                “Did I say that I’ve finished the rules? No. Any kind of communication between you and Kaiba is forbidden. Even if we play 2 different duels, that doesn’t mean that ours isn’t linked to the one in the other room. If the difference between your LP and Kaiba’s or between mine and my brother’s is bigger than 1500, then I’ll have to draw another card. Or my brother does, depending if it was you or him who brought it. If the difference between your LP, or our LP is bigger than 3000, your ally would be shoot in the head.”

                “You’re lying!”

                “Not at all. How does it feel to have your ‘sacrificial’ deck sealed?” you clicked your tongue.

                “And how are we supposed to know about each other’s LP? Or are we going to get shoot without knowing?” Kaiba’s exterior was calm, but inside he was boiling. He understands that your reckless play style would be a burden to him, but he was worried about the psychological advantage your opponent would have over you.

                “Nice of you to ask.” He pointed again at the big screen, now both of them lit “You can see her face and my brother’s field. Do you also see the gray dot at the bottom of each screen?” Kaiba nodded                 “While the difference is increasing, the dot will move and change its colour. The one bellow my brother’s field is the one corresponding to our LP and the one bellow Ms. (l/n)’s face is yours.”

              “Very well. Let’s start this stupid game once and for all.”

              “Now let’s decide the fate who goes first.” His opponent took a coin and tossed.

              “Head” you said with a calm voice.

              “Oh! You’re lucky! You can go first!”

              All four of you took your five cards and said duel at the same time. You looked at your cards desperately, various combos coming into your head, but all of them were too reckless. You couldn’t play as usual while Kaiba’s life was depending on that. The painkiller eased both your headache and your shoulder ache, but they still hurt and you were still dizzy. It looked like fate was against you. You decided to play safe, at least a few turns.

              “I summon the English Wizard in DEF position. (DEF 1000). Turn end.” You quickly peeked at the screens and you saw that a face down monster was placed on Kaiba’s opponent’s field. He came in second.

              “I summon Spear Dragon in ATK position (ATK 1900).” Your eyes widened for a second “Attack her Wizard! And you know about Spear’s Dragon monster effect. If-“

              “I know about it. It doesn’t matter since my monster has a special effect as well. I can use one trap from my hand during your turn. I use Loki’s prank. It will switch your monster’s target to a copy of its own, thus killing himself.”

              “I set a card. Turn end.”

              You couldn’t help the temptation to look at the screens. The dot bellow Kaiba slightly changed its position and colour. On the opponent side was Big Shield Gardna. Kaiba also had a frown on his face. Then it hit you. The guy in front of you laughed.

              “You’re quick. Yes, we have a replica of the deck of the person you want to duel the most. How does it feel? To be your boyfriend’s second?” you snorted, resisting the impulse to argue that he is not your boyfriend. You’ll just waste your time.

              “I will not fall for your taunts.”

              “We’ll see about that. It’s your turn, (f/n)(l/n).”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own the characters that the creatures are based on

              “It’s my turn.” You declared as you drew a card.  You scanned the cards, remembering that you have to play careful. You bite your lower lip as you didn’t have any plan. “I switch my Wizard to attack position (ATK 1900). Attack his life points directly.”

              “I reveal my face down cards. The Quick-play spell: Enemy Control. I switch your English Wizard back in defense mode.” You could feel his smirk in his voice.

              “I end my turn…” you looked at the screen: Kaiba LP had dropped again, his opponent summoned Chimera (ATK 2100) and he had a face-down monster. Then it came to you. Kaiba might lower his life points on purpose to help you. You checked your cards again. Your pulse increased.

              ‘Kaiba… I need you to lower his LP as well…’ you thought as you tried to come up with a plan.

              Kaiba clicked his tongue. He had various options, yet he chose the one so unlikely his play style. He had Peten (DEF 1200) on the field, face-down, but it was his opponent turn. On the other side, (f/n) hadn’t done a real move since the beginning. He looked at the screen: her opponent just summoned x-headed cannon and placed a face down card, as for (f/n)… She was looking at him.  She didn’t look entirely pleased, yet she was struggling. Kaiba’s usual poker face twisted into a frown. He was getting the feeling that she was trying to tell him something, but he couldn’t understand what. Thinking what he has done until now and what options he had, an idea came to him.

              ‘I don’t know what she has on her field, but I’ll take this gamble.’

              “I summon Celtic Guardian (ATK 1400) in attack mode. Attack his face down monster.” His opponent declared calmly.

              “I activate Peten’s special effect. I banish him from my graveyard, so I can summon another one from my hand or deck in defense mode.”

              “Chimera, attack Peten.”

              “I’ll reuse Peten’s monster effect again. And now is my turn. Draw!” Kaiba looked at his cards and smirked. He was betting everything in that round.

              “I sacrifice Peten to summon Kaiser Glider (ATK 2400), destroy Chimera.” He narrowed his eyes.

              “I special summon Berfomet in defense position (DEF 1800) using Chimera’s special effect.”

              “I end my turn.” Kaiba declared and looked at the screen and saw (f/n)’s lips twitching upwards. He guessed right, he has won the bet.

              Your opponent began to laugh.

              “You’ve ended your turn after placing a card face down? Have you already given up? You’ll regret this.” You hummed, smiling. You’re eyes following the screens.

              “We’ll see about that.” You narrowed your eyes.

              “I sacrifice my X Headed Cannon to summon Kaiser Glider with whom I directly attack your LP.” You chuckled.

              “I caught you. I reveal my face dawn card: Divine Vengeance. I can activate it only after my opponent declares an attack. It will destroy all the cards from the field and each of our monster’s ATK points will be reduced from our life; I don’t have any monster on the field, so I don’t take any damage.”     

              “Damn you.” You smirked, but it faded quickly as you saw how Kaiba's dot changed its colour and position.

              “Not so happy, now, aren’t we? Since you took 2400 LP from my life, I draw a card. I also place a card face-down and end my turn.” You clicked your tongue.

              “This is roughly three quarters of the bar, so I say that Kaiba lost around 2500 points. This helps me, but I’ll wait for another turn… It might work.” you scanned your cards and frowned.

              “I draw a card and end my turn.”

              “My turn. I set a monster face-down and end my turn.” He noticed the look of disdain on your face. “Disappointed that I haven’t taken the bite and attacked you?” you snorted.

              “In a way, you just did. It might not be exactly how I wanted, but it will suffice. I summon the French Writer in ATK mode (1750 ATK). Attack his face-down monster.”

              “I reveal my face-down card: Shrink. 875 points are lower than 1200 which are Peten’s defense points.”

              “I sacrifice 800 LP to activate my Writer’s special ability: Words are the strongest weapon. I negate your Shrink.”

              “Fine. I activate Peten’s special ability.”

              “I set one card face-down.” And you ended your turn.

              “I noticed that you started playing by your usual style, but how long can you keep this up? You have a limited amount of LP you can afford to lose. It’s your choice.” He paused to emphasize his words “It’s my turn. I use Resurrection of the Dead to revive my Kaiser Glider. I sacrifice both him and Peten to summon Kaiba’s most iconic monster: The Blue Eyes White Dragon. Say good-bye to your Frenchman. Burst Stream of Destraction!” You sighed.

              “For god sake. Were you the guy that created a replica of my deck? ‘Cus I highly doubt it. Or you just thought that having Kaiba’s deck will give you an advantage? Pathetic.” he growled as your words dripped with venom. Your sassiness was making him angry. “Since I lost more than 1500 LP in a single attack, I can special summon my Macaroni Brothers (1500 DEF) in defense position.”

              “I end my turn.” He declared in a voice filled with repressed rage.

              “I reveal my face-down card: Will of the Dead. If a monster just died in an attack, I can get a card from my deck by removing another from the game; it must be of the same type. I use Premature Burial: in exchange of 800 LP I can bring my French Writer back. Now I can activate the spell I just got: Call of Brothers. If I have 2 creatures in different position on my field I can summon the next three monsters, two in defense and one in attack, from my deck by paying 600 LP for each. I special summon: The Portuguese Explorer (1700 DEF) and the Romanian Vampire (1000 DEF) in defense mode and...” you stopped and smirked as you saw your favourite card “My strongest monster, the Spanish Pirate (3000 ATK). I end my turn.” You chuckled as you read his body language. He was getting desperate.

              “Laugh while you can. Losing 5150 LP in 3 rounds is a performance that you rarely see.”

              “I told you, didn’t I? You’re giving me a free hand with 8000 LP. By the way, it’s 4950. While they are in defense mode, my Macaroni Brothers restore 200 LP at the end of each turn.”

              Back on Kaiba’s duel, his opponent used the Sealing Swords of Light to block his X Headed Cannon (1800 ATK) and Dol Dora (1500 ATK). He managed to lower his opponent’s LP, but not as much as he wanted due to Kuriboh’s special ability which blocked his Cannon’s direct attack. He had 5600, while the opponent 5800. It was time for him to act up.

              “I summon Manju God (1400 ATK). I use his special ability to add Descent of White Dragon ritual spell in my hand. Then I tribute him, so I could summon The Knight of White Dragon (1900ATK), which I then tribute to summon the embodiment of my pride.  Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000 ATK).” Kaiba quickly glanced at the screen. (f/n)’s life dropped suddenly.

              'She must have used the Call of Brothers card. I hope it was worth it and her Spaniard is on the field.'

                “I summon Magician’s Valkyria in attack mode (1600 ATK). Destroy Dol Dora!”

                “You’ve triggered my trap card. Negate attack.”

                “Counter trap! Magician’s Circle. Now I summon the Dark Magician Girl (2000 ATK)!

                “I summon Magic Lamp (900ATK)”

                 “Turn end.” The duel became intense, now that Kaiba understands (f/n)’s moves and both of the summoned the key card of their decks. Unfortunately for Seto, his opponent doesn’t understand what Yugi’s deck means and how to use it properly.

              “I set one card face down and switch X headed cannon (1500 DEF), Magic Lamp (1400 DEF) and Dol Dora (1200 DEF) in defense position. I end my turn.” The swords blocked him for the second turn.

              “I activate the Dark Magic Curtain; now I can special summon Dark Magician by paying half of my LP. I use the Thousand Knives spell to destroy Blue-Eyes!” Kaiba darkly chuckled.

              “Give up already. I activate Sub Space Matter Transfer Device. I move Blue-Eyes in another dimension and your attack is negated.” His opponent started to lose his patience.

              “Tsk. Black Magician Girl, Magician’s Valkyria, Dark Magician attack X-headed Cannon, Dol Dora and Magic Lamp. Then I set a card and end my turn.”

              “I return Blue-Eyes back in our dimension and I activate Dol Dora special ability. I can summon it back with 1000 defense points. I end my turn and the Sealing Swords of Light disappear.” He was free to end this stupid duel.

              At the same time, your opponent destroyed your Romanian Vampire and set a card. It was your turn.

              “I activate the spell card Joker Game. I discard a card from my hand. You say a number between 1 and 10 and I draw that card counting form the top of my deck.”

              “3.” You’ve drawn it and darkly chuckled.

              “Though luck. It seems like you have pick the Joker. I activate the equip spell card: Silver Axe. I use it on my Pirate giving him an extra 500 attack points. Destroy Blue Eyes! Turn end.”

              “I summon the Magic Lamp in defense mode. I end my turn.” You sighed as you noticed you’ve relaxed as you started to play as usual. It was only a matter of time until the duel will end.

              “I attack it with my French Writer. I set a card.”

              “I set a monster.” It ticked you off. After all the taunting he was playing defensive and your instincts screamed that you he has a plan.

              “You seem kind of desperate, huh? Attack again!”

              “And you seem kind of cocky. It’s Des Feral Imp (1800 DEF). I activate its special ability to shuffle my dead Blue Eyes into my deck. Now it’s my turn. I sacrifice summon Luster Dragon (1900 ATK). I end your Frenchman life. It’s a thorn in my side.”

              “You activated my trap card: Soul switch. By sacrificing 400 LP, I can change your target. Spanish Pirate, protect him!”

              At the end of these turn, you have 3050 LP, while your opponent has 3700. The game is approaching its end.

              “I sacrifice my Portuguese Explorer to summon the Teutonic Knight. When I have him on my field along with my French Writer and Spanish Pirate, I can add the spell card Triangle Attack with the condition that I can’t use in the next 5 rounds. I hope you know what this means. The countdown to your defeat started.” You looked at him with cold eyes which made him even angrier.

              “You know nothing! If I make the difference between the two of you greater than 3000, it’s farewell. And you, my dear, are walking on thin ice!”

              “Enough with this. I set a card and it’s your turn.” He drew and started to laugh maniacally.

              “I set a monster and a card.” You hummed.

              “Ok. I’m taking the bite. Spanish Pirate, attack his face-down monster.”

              “This is your demise! I activate the trap Crush Card Virus!”

              “Not this time! I activate my quick spell: Mime. By discarding a card from my hand, I can copy a special ability from one of the monsters on the field. Of course I copy the Writer’s. I pay 800 LP to cancel your trap, then my French Writer direct attacks you and I end my turn.” You gulped as you saw the bright dot on the screen. You closed your eyes and prayed, hoping your intuition was right. Your life was 2650; if Kaiba had 5650 or more, then you would die. You felt the goose bumps forming on your skin.

              “Seems like you are lucky this time. You barely managed to escape by 50 LP.” You sighed in relief.

              Back at Kaiba’s duel, it looked like he had an advantage. His opponent switched the Magician’s Valkyria (1800 DEF) in defense mode and managed to destroy Dol Dora, but Kaiba also summoned Newt in attack (1900 ATK). It was now his opponent’s turn.

              “I activate Baptism of Light and Darkness and the trap card the Coffin of Black Magic Revival. I tribute Dark Magician Girl and your Newt to summon the Magician of Black Chaos (2800 ATK). I end my turn.”

              “I attack Magician’s Valkyria with Blue Eyes. Burst Stream of Destruction! I set a card.”

              “Magician of Dark Chaos lets me add Thousands knives in my hand. I use it to destroy your Blue Eyes. Now, I direct attack you with both Dark Magician and Magician of Black Chaos, since your field is empty.” Kaiba’s opponent was getting ahead of himself, not understanding his aim.

              “I activate the trap card Shadow Spell. I use it to bind the Magician of Black Chaos.”

              “But you still lose 2500 LP.”

              “That was my plan.” He pointed to the screen. The incredibly bright spot became grey again.

              “Tsk. So your girlfriend was in a tight spot and you helped her… I sacrifice the Magician of Black Chaos to summon Summoned Demon.”

              “I set a monster and end my turn.” Kaiba chose to wait this time.

              He managed to reverse the situation. Now he had 3100 LP and his opponent 2900. Your life was no longer in danger, so it gave you another wave of relief. Calming down for real, you took a deep breath. With cold eyes you looked at your opponent.

              “I think it’s time to end this entire charade. I set 2 cards face down and end my turn.”

              “I couldn’t agree more. Especially since now if I want to kill you I have to defeat you. I discard one spell from my hand to use Emergency Provisions to gain 1000 LP. I banish one light monster and one dark monster from my graveyard to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon- Convoy of the end. Now you know why I gained 1000 life points, right?”

              “Of course I know. By paying 1000 LP, you can send all of our cards from the field and from our hand to the graveyard. For each card I take 300 LP damage.”

              “And since we have 6 cards on the field and I have 4 in my hand, it doesn’t really matter how many you have in your hand. It’s the end. Yet you seem awfully calm? Have you already given up?” you shrugged.

              “Not quite. I mean your plan would have worked if you moved a little faster. You had Chaos Emperor Dragon for at least one turn since you didn’t use the card you just drew. This is the fifth round since I’ve summoned my Teutonic Knight.”

              “But you can’t use the spell from your hand! And your wizard is dead!”

              “He might, but his special effect isn’t. I use the special power of the Fallen Angel from my graveyard.”

              “What? When? You never summoned it!”

              “I’ve sent cards to the graveyard all the duel… You really know nothing. It was the payment for Joker Game. By discarding 2 spells/traps from my field, I can use a special ability of a monster from my graveyard.  Of course I use the one of my English Wizard. Now I can activate Triangle Attack. If I have on my field: my Spanish Pirate, my French Writer and my Teutonic Knight and is your turn, in exchange for 3 quarters of my LP, I can use all three of them to attack you directly, their attack points are combined. You’ll die before you manage to use such a card as Chaos Emperor Dragon.”

              “No, it’s impossible!” you ignored the cry of the man. He was beyond pathetic and left a bitter taste in your mouth. You turned to the one pointing the gun.

              “I’ve won the duel. Now lead me to where Kaiba is.” You had a cold tone. He lowered the gun and nodded.

              Kaiba’s duel wasn’t as near to the end as yours. His opponent attacked his set monster, the Giant Virus, thus making him lose 500 LP and giving Kaiba two other monsters on the field, both of them in attack mode.

              “Dark Magician, attack one of the Viruses.”

              “I activate the quick-spell Command Silencer. I negate your attack and draw a card.”

              “I set a card and end my turn.” Kaiba glared at his opponent.

              “It is time to end this stupid game. I sacrifice my two viruses to summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Blue-Eyes, destroy the Dark Magician! I set a card.”

              “I set a monster.”

              “Desperate enough? I summon Spear Dragon. Blue Eyes, attack Summoned Demon, Spear Dragon attack the wall monster. You’ll still take damage!”

              “I set a card.” Is opponent was too defensive. Either he had a plan or was even weaker than the former CEO thought.

              “Hmph. I set a monster. Blue-Eyes, direct attack him!”

              “I activate Electromagnetic Turtle’s effect to end your battle phase! Now I use Chaos Ritual. By sacrificing monsters whose level add to eight, I summon the strongest monster of this deck: Chaos Soldier. Attack Spear Dragon, now I use its special ability to attack again and destroy your set monster.”

              “My turn. I use the spell card Silent Doom to summon Blue-Eyes from my graveyard. Now I use fuse the two Blue-Eyes on my field with the one from my hand to summon Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. It is time to end this. Ultimate Burst!”

              “At this moment, I use Curse of the Hexagram: your monster can’t attack.” Kaiba smirked.

              “Ultimate Dragon can’t attack, but the three Blue Eyes can! I use De-fusion to end this pathetic duel once and for all!”

              “No way…”

“That third rate duelist, Jounouchi, proved to be more of a challenge than you and your stupid rules. Get lost!” Kaiba then glared at the guy pointing a gun to his head. He lowered it and let him move towards the door. As soon as it opened, someone jumped in his arms, making him stumble a bit.

              “Kaiba!” he was shocked a bit. He wanted to end the duel so bad that he forgot to check on you. But it seemed that you managed well enough. For the first time in a long time, he was glad to see you. So glad that he squeezed you in his arms and rested his chin on top of your head.

              “(f/n)…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


	7. Final chapter

        Kaiba was hugging you. His warmth engulfed you. Only when you have become comfortable enough, it hit you.

              “Sorry…” you broke the hug and looked down at the white tiles. In that sudden movement of pushing him away, you missed the split second in which disappointment was shown on his face. When you looked back at him, he was already expressionless, but a hint of confusion lingered on his blue orbs.

              “What are we going to do?”

              “I’ll bet my life that you no longer have that memory stick.”

              “And you will not lose it…” you sweat dropped “It was still in the computer when I got hit.” You have bitten your inner cheek in guilt and his gaze landed on your bandage.

              “No… My plan had flaws from the very beginning. It was foolish of me to think they don’t know about you. Seems like I own you a second time.” He mumbled the last part.

              “Drop it. I didn’t pay enough attention neither.” He cleared his throat.

              “That aside… The plan is the same. Hopping they didn’t have enough time to decode the bug, I still can blow this world.”

              You smiled bitterly. Kaiba lived in this world for the past few years. Even for him, talking about destroying it can’t be this easy.

              “Is this a part of the virtual KaibaCorp?” you looked around, not recognizing anything.

              “Not. It is a part they created.” He narrowed his eyes, frowning. “They’ve mocked my company. They will not go away with this.” You sighed.

              “Let’s go.” He nodded and went ahead.

              Unsurprisingly, you couldn’t keep up with his pace. Seeing how he was leaving you behind, Kaiba wrapped his fingers around your wrist and began dragging you, at first, but soon he adjusted to your pace, yet didn’t let you go of your hand. Due to running and, perhaps, closeness, your heart was racing and you wondered if he could feel it.

              “Do you know where we are you going?” you asked him.

              “Yes. I’ve come here of my own free will, if you could call it like that.” You cringed a bit; it was you who, unwillingly, brought him.

              Not long enough, you started to recognize the place. It was the hallway you ran to reach the computer that will destroy this world. Both of you entered the said room and Kaiba ran to the computer. He, knowing it was meaningless, still checked for the memory stick; it was, of course, long gone. Even if it was still there, it contents would have been deleted.

              “I have to write the code again. It will take less than the first time.” You rolled your eyes.

              “It was obvious. I’ll stay on guard.” Kaiba raised an eyebrow and looked at you skeptically.

              “Says the girl who got herself stabbed in the shoulder and hit on the head. Should I feel reassured?” you snorted.

              “While you have all the rights to think that way, you should, at least, give me some credit, Kaiba.” You pointed to the dueldisk that was still attached to your arm. “This idea popped in my head while I was dueling. This is the virtual world, right? So a summoned monster should be able to touch a ‘human’, right? We are all just some avatars, after all, but unlike them, we are connected to a body that has pain receptors.” Kaiba nodded.

              “You are technically right. Since I didn’t encounter such kind of situation, I haven’t thought to exploit the VR this way.” You smirked at him. You summoned your Spanish Pirate. Just to check your theory, you gently hit the Spaniard in the arm with your fist.

              “I’m counting on you, buddy.” He smiled at your words.

              It took Kaiba over an hour to recode everything from scratch, but when he finished he rose quickly from his seat. No one came after all after the two of you.

              “We have to log out in less than 30 seconds.” Your eyes widened a bit. Understanding your confusion he replied without waiting for your question “We have to give them as little time as possible to log out.” You nodded.

              “Mokuba haven’t told me how to log out, but I assume that it has something do to with the ID card.” Kaiba nodded.

              “Yeah, you have to rip it off.” You sighed and took a good look at Kaiba’s face. It was still lacking any kind of emotion. Either he didn’t really care about this world or he was good at hiding it.

              The two of you ripped your cards and closed your eyes. You opened them to find yourself in pitch darkness. The same as when you logged in. You were tempted to call Kaiba, but gave up; you will find him next to you when you wake up. No longer afraid, you waited for the big, bright screen to appear. Seconds later it did, indeed.

        ‘Mokuba Kaiba

        Logging out…’

        The already bright screen became even brighter so you had to cover your eyes with your arm and suddenly you could hear a beeping sound. Your headache and shoulder ache hit you again, so you moaned a bit. You half-opened your eyes and found yourself unable to move. Recognizing the surroundings as the room Mokuba left you who knows how long ago, you sighed. You felt something squeezing you hand. You turned your head, which was movable and (e/c) eyes met blue ones; you smiled at him.

        ‘It is over.’ you thought.

        The sound of opening doors was heard followed by footsteps.

        “Huh? No, it can’t! Brother!” Mokuba surprised voice almost made you chuckle. The black-haired boy was soon by his brother side and held his free hand.

        “You’re back! Thank you, (f/n), for bringing Seto back!”

        “You’re welcome.” Your throat was a bit hoarse.

        After that Mokuba called the doctor which helped to save you from the devices’ grasp. He gave you some painkillers to ease up the headache and shoulder ache and then began to check up Kaiba’s functions. For someone who was trapped in VR for the past few years, he could still walk, talk and everything else like he did that until a few hours ago. Seeing that the older brother was ok, the doctor recommended him to rest a few days and left.

        “Rest sound like a nice idea.” You said as massaged your temples.

        “You should stay a few days at Kaiba Mansion.” Mokuba suggested

        “No, I can’t…”

        “Why not? Is it too big for you?” Kaiba was smirking and you snorted.

        “No. But I have my own.” You raised an eyebrow as if the answer wasn’t obvious.

        “We have a promise to fulfill, right?” Seto reminded you and you sighed, again.

        “Fine. If you insist…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. Yu-gi-oh!, its characters etc (c) owner.  
> Feel free to correct my English mistakes or make a suggestion, request or to pinpoint if someone is too OOC.


End file.
